May 7, 2012

Google+ Hangouts Ready To Take Over The World (video)

Just last week we reported on a couple of minor updates to Google+ Hangouts. Little did we know, a Hangouts bombshell was just around the corner. For a while now, a feature called Hangouts On Air was available to a small number of testers. The feature allowed them to broadcast their Hangouts live to the public. As of today, this feature is free to all.

Google has just announced that Hangouts On Air can now be used by anyone. What this means for you is that you can now start a Hangout, embed it all over the web, and broadcast it simultaneously to all of your blog readers, YouTube subscribers, and Google+ followers. So now your boss and your grandma can both watch you fail to stick the landing on your new bike in real time. What this means for the world is utter chaos.

YouTube already changed the world once by unleashing a wave of stupidity and hilarity upon unsuspecting citizens. Now Google is doing it again but without the comfort and safety of post-production editing. Once the feature is enabled, the Hangout broadcasts automatically while recording every second of the action for easy sharing afterward.

Here's a full list of what you get, courtesy of the official Google Blog:

See how many viewers you’ve got.During your broadcast, you can look inside the hangout to see how many people are watching live.

Record and re-share.Once you're off the air, we’ll upload a public recording to your YouTube channel, and to your original Google+ post. This way it's easy to share and discuss your broadcast after it's over.